This proposal involves the increasingly common challenge facing the many golf clubs in the UK, which are experiencing a significant fall in membership and consequent threat to their viability.

A major aspect of this issue is that most clubs are in Green Belt areas and Planning Consent for building on them will be controversial.

On this site we have examined the possibility of creating a comprehensive development such as an ‘eco village’ or small new town, but currently are commissioned to replace the outdated golf club building with a development of good quality apartments and rebuild a contemporary clubhouse on an adjacent plot. The club will continue to operate for the foreseeable future, and other small plots may be developed to create a golf focused community of owned and/or let units.

The initial proposal is designed as a group of three storey blocks arranged around a landscaped courtyard, with the gaps between affording visual links to the golf course beyond. Parking is discreet and either within planted pergolas or screened by shrubs.

The immediately surrounding area is predominantly residential, including houses in a variety of periods and styles; and following consultation with the client and Council Planners, the proposed buildings are in a contemporary Georgian idiom. Facing brick and stucco walls, sliding sash windows, slate roofs and careful detailing will combine to create a complementary and desirable architectural solution.